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Top Tech Breakthroughs of 2008
As we approach the end of the year it's time once again for the never-ending stream of retrospectives and year-in-review discussions. Wired has their version of the best technology breakthroughs of 2008. From phones to shrinking laptops to flexible displays, there is no shortage of interesting advancements when looking back at this year. What other groundbreaking advancements were made this year, and what do we have to look forward to for 2009?
0. Year of Linux on the desktop!
Because people have difficulties remembering the future
Solar powered laptops, is something I had been waiting for. Maybe I am day dreaming, but the back of LCD panel could be fully covered with Solar Cells and trickle charge the battery, which might run my laptop for 5-6 hours before needing recharge. I guess solar cells have not become that efficient yet, but, is anybody trying it?
hilarious
So lets see the advancements are:
Finally implementing a 37 year old technology
A website for buying programs - Apple App store
Actually using flash memory, a fairly old technology
a bathing suit
Actually using a 1978 technology - GPS
A slightly better consumer digital video camera
The third major revision of an old technology - USB 3.0
Microchips that are small
A cellphone operating system
and, presenting, the ONLY actual innovation of 2008
Flexible displays that barely work!
so glad I live in the age of technological miracles
There's several reasons why magazines and other media look back at this time of year (or any time of the year, for a top 10 kind of thing)
1. It's easy to do. At this time of year, journalists have better things to do than research and write new things. Top 10s are copy-paste jobs.
2. Ad revenue. Top 10's are almost always viral marketing. There's always a few WTF? entries. Those are the ones that the whole article is built around to sock-puppet promote.
3. They are controversial. So, they drive up hits.
4. Oddly, people like them. They are very popular content.
Until this year, mobile app developers lacked an easy way to get their software into the hands of consumers, forcing them to make deals with finicky and power-hungry carriers if they wanted to get any distribution at all.
This as apposed to forcing them to make deals with a finicky and power-hungry hardware manufacturer.
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz